Objective To explore the relationship between the microsatellite markers on chromosome 6 and the phenotypes of atopy. Methods Sixteen microsatellite markers on chromosome 6 were evaluated in 20 affected sib pair and trios families. Linkage disequilibrium analysis was conducted according to asthmatic phenotypes (total IgE, skin prick test, bronchial hyper responsiveness and eosinophil) by ETDT software system. Results Significant P value( P

Objective To study the effect of inflammatory cytokines on diabetic nephropathy.Methods Blood glucose(BG),blood urea nitrogen(BUN),serum creatinine(Scr) and 24 hour urinary protein(24hUPro) were detected at the end of 4 weeks and 8 weeks study in male SD rats.The rats were divided into diabetes(DM) group and normal control(NC) group.Kidney weight/body weight ratio(KI) of rats were measured and calculated.Kidney pathological changes were observed by light microscope and electron microscope.Expressions of interleukin-18(IL-18),intercellular adhesion molecule-1(ICAM-1)and tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-?) in glomeruli were detected by immunohistochemical staining.Results Compared with homochronous NC group,BG,KI,24hUPro,Scr and expressions of IL-18,ICAM-1,TNF-? were significantly higher in DM group(P

BACKGROUND: Islet transplantation is an effective method for the treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus and parts of type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, its application is hindered by insufficient sources and immunologic rejection. Though transdifferentiation of pancreatic stem cells is at the starting step, it is thought to be the hopeful source for islet cell transplantation.OBJECTIVE: To look for a suitable cells-transplantation source for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. METHODS: The pancreatic ductal epithelial cells were separated from Kunming mice and cultured in DMEM/F12 medium supplemented with keratinocyte growth factor, hepatocyte growth factor and nicotinamide, etc. Samples were taken at different time points for light microscopy and electron microscope. The changes of CK-19 and PDX-1 were detected by immunocytochemistry at 1 and 16 days. The expressions of insulin and glucagon gene were detected by RT-PCR at 1 and 16 days. The physiologic function of these islet-like clusters was determined by dithizone staining and glucose stimulation at 21 days. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: A large number of epitheliod cells were CK-19 immunoreactive positive and few of them were PDX-1 positive at 1 day after isolation, then CK-19 positive cells proliferated quickly and formed substantial plaques of epithelial cells in cobblestone pattern. At 16 days later, these cells begin to form islet-like clusters gradually, while most of them were PDX-1 immunoreactive positive. The analysis of mRNA by RT-PCR showed very low levels of insulin and glucagon mRNA in the starting materials but increase was found as the process of transdifferentiation. At 21 day differentiated islet-like clusters were stained red by dithizone. In those samples exposed to a stimulatory 15 mmol/L glucose, there was a 1.6-fold increase in insulin compared with to 5.6 mmol/L glucose (P < 0.05). Pancreatic ductal cells of adult Kunming mice could proliferate quickly and have the potency of transdifferentiation into islet-like clusters when cultured in vitro under appropriate conditions.

The serum level of 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 was determined in patients with type 2 diabetes,diabetic nephropathy,and healthy objects..The results demonstrated that the serum 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 level in type 2 diabetic patients with nephropathy was lower than that in the healthy objects or type 2 diabetes objects.Blood β2-M,total cholesterol,creatinine,24 h urinary albumin,and course of illness in type 2 diabetic patients with nephropathy have relationship with serum 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3.

To study the effects of forkhead transcription factor O1 (FoxO1) on the expression of type Ⅳ collagen and desmin in podocytes of diabetic rats.Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were divided into three groups:diabetic rats (DM group),rats transfected with blank lentiviral vectors (diabetes mellitus plus LV-pSC-GFP group,LV-NC group),and rats which were transfected with lentiviral vectors carrying constitutively active FoxO1 (diabetes mellitus plus LV-FoxO1-AAA group,LV-CA group).Rats which received an injection of diluent buffer served as normal control.At 2,4,and 8 weeks after transfection,the levels of urine albumin,blood glucose,blood urea nitrogen,and serum creatinine were measured.Realtime PCR and Western blotting were performed to measure the mRNA and protein levels of FoxO1,COL4A3,COL4A5,and desmin in the renal cortex.Moreover,light microscope and electron microscope were used to observe the structural changes in glomerulus and podocytes.Compared with LV-NC and DM group,in LV-CA group,there was a significant increase in the mRNA and protein levels of FoxO1,and a distinct decrease in the levels of urine albumin,blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine of rats (except at the twoweek time point) (all P＜0.05),the mRNA and protein levels of COL4A3,COL4A5,and desmin were all decreased (all P＜0.05),and pathological changes in kidney were also improved.Upregulating the expression of FoxO1 by transfecting with constructed lentiviral vectors can definitely improve the abnormal expression of type Ⅳ collagen and desmin in podocytes of diabetic rats.

Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were treated with resveratrol for 12 weeks.Compared with group of diabetic rats without treatment,the levels of urine albumin,serum creatinine,and blood urea nitrogen were significantly decreased and pathological changes in kidney were improved in treatment group ( P＜0.05 ).The mRNA expressions of FoxO1 and catalase were higher and FoxO1 phosphorylation level in diabetic rats treated with resveratrol was lower than that in diabetic rats without treatment (P＜0.05),suggesting that resveratrol may protect the kidneys of diabetic rats via regulating expression of FoxO1.

Objective To review the clinical features,etiology and differential diagnosis of hypopituitarism.Methods The clinical data of 260 patients with hypopituitarism admitted to our hospital during 2007 to 2011 were retrospectively analyzed.Results In 260 patients 96 were males and 164 were females,the average age of female patients was significantly higher than that of males[ (44 ± 16) vs.(32 ± 20) years; t =3.821,P =0.001 ].Patients under 20 years accounted for the highest proportion in male cases (38/96,39.6％) ; while patients aged 40 - 60 years were the highest proportion for female cases (86/164,52.4％).Pituitary tumor and postoperative damage was the most common cause for hypopituitarism accounting for 36.2％ (94/260),followed by Sheehan syndrome (86/260,33.1％).The most common manifestation of hypopituitarism was anemia (102 eases) ; 26 cases presented all pituitary function failure.The causes leading to hypopituitarism usually showed specific manifestations in imaging examinations.The overall misdiagnosis rate was 40.4％ (105/260)in this series,while that of etiological diagnosis was 25.4％ (66/260).Conclusions This study suggests that hypopituitarism caused by different causes can be diagnosed by disease history,clinical manifestations and pituitary imaging examination.

Objective To investigate protective effects of pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) on kidneys of diabetic rats and the possible mechanism. Methods Thirty-four streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: diabetic aminals without treatment (D group), diabetic rats treated with PDTC (P group), diabetic rats treated with MMF (M group), diabetic rats treated with combined PDTC and MMF (P+M group), and normal rats were considered as control group (C group). Blood glucose, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine (Scr), and 24 h urinary protein (24 h UP) were detected at the end of treatment lasting for 8 weeks. Kidneys were weighed in order to measure kidney weight/body weight ratio (KI) after rats were killed. Pathological changes in the kidneys were observed by light microscope and electron microscope. Expressions of interleukin-18 (IL-18), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in renal glomerulus were detected by immunohistochemical staining.Results Blood glucose, BUN, Scr, 24 h UP, KI were significantly higher in D, P, M and P+M groups than those in C group (all P＜0.05). BUN, Scr, 24 h UP, KI were significantly lower in P, M and P+M groups than those in D group (all P＜0.05). 24 h UP was reduced in P+M groups compared with P,M groups (P＜0.05). Pathological changes were attenuated in P,M and P+M groups compared with D group. Expressions of IL-18, ICAM-1, TNF-α in renal glomerulus were much higher in D group than those in C group (all P＜0.05) and were reduced in P, M and P+M groups compared with D group (all P＜0.05). Expressions of IL-18, ICAM-1, TNF-α in P+M group were lower than those in P group (all P＜0.05), while expressions of IL-18, TNF-α were lower than those in M group (both P＜0.05). Conclusion The protective effects on kidneys of diabetic rats produced by combined use of PDTC with MMF were much better than by the application of either PDTC or MMF alone. The mechanism appears to be related with suppressing expressions of inflammatory cytokines.

Total 306 patients with early stage diabetes were enrolled in the study, after follow-up for 67 ± 8 months, the data of 288 cases were analyzed with survival analysis method. At the end of study 64 out 288 patients had high serum uric acid and the remaining 224 had normal uric acid levels. The prevalence of dominant proteinuria and reduced GFR were significantly higher in patients with high serum uric acid than those with normal serum uric acid (47. 36% vs 30. 29% and 66. 14% vs 37.72%, respectively, both P <0. 05). The results suggest that high level of serum uric acid is a risk factor for the progress of diabetic nephropathy.

Objective To study the effects and mechanisms of resveratrol (Resv) on the expression of adiponectin receptors ( AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 ) in rat mesangial cells (MCs) cultured in intermittent high glucose medium.Methods The MCs cultured in normal glucose ( 5.6 mmol/L) medium were transfected by the plasmid vector of the FoxO1 short hairpin RNAs ( FoxO1 shRNA ),and then cultured in intermittent high glucose medium (5.6mmol/L or 30 mmol/L,alternately every 8 hours ) and resveratrol ( Resv 20 μmol/L).The MCs cultured in normal glucose (5.6 mmol/L) medium served as normal glucose control group (NG),and the MCs exposed to iutermittent high glucose medium were divided into five groups:intermittent high glucose group (IHG),IHG+Resv group,IHG+FoxO1 shRNA group,IHG+ Resv + FoxO1 shRNA group,IHG + Negative control group ( shNC ),each group was cultured for 72 h.The level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was assessed by Fluorescence microplate reader.The mRNA levels of Sirt1,Foxo1,AdipoR1,and AdipoR2 were assessed by RT-RCR.The protein levels of FoxO1,phosphorylation FoxO1 ( p-FoxO1 ),AdipoR1,and AdipoR2 were assessed by Western blotting.Results ( 1 )Compared with NG,intermittent high glucose significantly decreased the mRNA expression of Sirt1,but markedly increased the level of p-FoxO1.Furthermore,the mRNA and protein expression levels of AdipoR1 were obviously decreased while the level of ROS was enhanced in IHG ( all P＜0.05 ).(2) Compared with IHG,the mRNA and protein expression levels of FoxO1 and AdipoR1 were inhibited,but the level of ROS was enhanced in group IHG+FoxO1 shRNA ( all P＜0.05 ).( 3 ) Compared with IHG,after treating with Resv,the mRNA expression level of Sirtl was increased,whereas the level of p-FoxO1 was decreased.Moreover,the mRNA and protein levels of AdipoR1 was increased while the level of ROS was lowered in group IHG+Resv (all P＜0.05 ).(4) Compared with group IHG+Resv,the mRNA and protein levels of FoxO1 and AdipoR1 were inhibited,but the level of ROS was increased in group IHG+Resv+FoxO1 shRNA (all P＜O.05).(5) In addition,the mRNA and protein expression level of AdipoR2 showed no significant difference among these groups ( P＞0.05 ).Conclusion ( 1 ) Resveratrol significantly increases the expression of AdipoR1 in MCs induced by intermittent high glucose.( 2 ) FoxO1 plays an important role in regulating the expression of AdipoR1 by resveratrol.